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The Habsburg dynasty underwent profound changes under Maria Theresa’s son, Joseph II, and his successor, Leopold II, between 1780 and 1792. With Maria Theresa’s death in 1780, Joseph II became the sole ruler, bringing a strong Enlightenment influence to the monarchy and attempting sweeping reforms across his diverse empire. Known as "Josephinism," his reforms aimed to modernize and centralize Habsburg rule. Joseph’s policies were driven by his ideal of “enlightened despotism,” intending to impose a uniform, rational governance system across Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, and other territories through 6,000 edicts and 11,000 new laws. However, his aggressive approach stirred resistance throughout the empire, especially among the nobility and traditional clergy, who found his egalitarian taxation and forced German as the official language oppressive.
Joseph’s reforms included abolishing serfdom, enforcing universal education, centralizing healthcare, and granting greater religious tolerance. He limited the influence of the Catholic Church, shutting monasteries he deemed “unproductive,” which deeply angered the clergy. His foreign policy, however, was expansionist, marked by costly wars such as the War of the Bavarian Succession and a prolonged conflict with the Ottoman Empire. Ultimately, Joseph’s ambition to remake the Habsburg territories clashed with entrenched customs and local identities, and by his death in 1790, many of his reforms had been reversed as rebellions threatened imperial stability.
Upon Joseph's death, his brother Leopold II inherited an empire rife with unrest. Leopold swiftly quelled uprisings in Hungary and the Austrian Netherlands, repealed several of Joseph’s policies, and negotiated peace with the Ottomans. Though Leopold favored moderate reform, his reign was overshadowed by the French Revolution. Despite his initial sympathy for the revolutionaries, Leopold’s support for his sister Marie Antoinette and his diplomatic Declaration of Pillnitz inflamed French sentiments, eventually leading to the declaration of war on Austria just after his death in 1792.
During this period, Vienna also flourished as a cultural center. Joseph’s leniency toward censorship under von Swieten fostered a golden age of Viennese music, highlighted by composers like Haydn and Mozart, while the visual arts transitioned from Baroque grandeur to Rococo’s elegant refinement. Although Joseph’s ambitious reforms largely failed, they laid groundwork for the transformations that would shape the Habsburg Empire and Central Europe well into the 19th century.